The fashion world dropped the ball on this one. When Kate Moss was seen on the front row at the Topshop Unique show during London fashion week in September, we should have guessed something was up. It turns out that the UK's favourite supermodel is returning to the first of her extracurricular activities – designing another Topshop clothing range, due out next spring.

Kate Moss with Philip Green. Photograph: Richard Young/Rex Features

The first one, in 2007, caused something close to hysteria. Girls queued outside the Oxford Circus store; Moss was seen sharing a joke with CEO Sir Philip Green – aka "Uncle Phil" – and posed in the shop window at the launch. The pieces were largely based on her own boho, rock'n'roll wardrobe, and most sold out. The pansy tea dress was an instant classic, and can still found on eBay for more than £100. This was indisputably a fashion moment.

The fashion landscape has also changed since 2007. If Moss was one of the dominant forces over what we wore then, there are other style influences now. The zany grunge courtesy of supermodel-in-training Cara Delevingne arguably has more sway over the teen and twentysomething customers of Topshop, and non-models such as Carine Roitfeld and Anna Dello Russo have been tapped for collaborations from Mac and H&M respectively. There's little doubt that Moss's return to the high street is a good thing – and shows that she still looms large as a fashion personality. How the buying public responds to the designs will speak volumes about how we dress now.